X/OS Linux 5.0 – Almost RHEL5

Two in one: the RHEL clone, X/OS Linux, combines the server and client variants of Suse Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Version 5.0 has just been released.

The RHEL clone includes all Red Hat updates up to August 7. Yum version 3.2.1 was taken from RHEL 5.1 Beta. The installation routine now has package selection options. It is also possible to integrate all of RHEL5's server and client repositories or to opt for specific ones. During the install, you need to specify the "askkey" boot option for this. The author's website has more detail.

The distribution does not include the full set of Red Hat Network packages. The author has modified some package names and dependencies, and also removed various bugs, he claims. Known bugs with Bugzilla ticket numbers are referenced in the changelog. The changes to the previous version X/OS Linux 4 reflect the changes introduced by Red Hat when it moved to version 5.0. For example, X/OS Linux 5 now longer supports Apt or Synaptic based package management, but now relies entirely on Yum, Pirut or Pup.

X/OS 5.0 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 are more or less identical, as X/OS was built from Red Hat's GPL'd source packages. This is why the author also refers users to the Red Hat Release Notes for further information. The only differences relate to some package names, and dependency changes introduced by the author. Above all, the author has removed Red Hat logos and trademarks: he points out that X/OS Linux is not manufactured, supported or maintained by Red Hat. X/OS is designed for enterprise deployment, just like RHEL.

Dag Wieers of Project Centos made a passionate plea for more private users to turn to the free Red Hat Enterprise clone, and stressed that commercial companies with non-critical machines could also benefit from Centos.